-Rajesh Mishra
Lucknow : Independent India’s biggest irrigation project will be dedicated to the public just before the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. The Saryu Canal Project, pending for the last four decades in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, has finally been completed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate this project, which will provide irrigation facility to more than 14 lakh hectare area of 9 districts of Awadh, tomorrow.
The Saryu canal project will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on Saturday in Balrampur district, where the barrage has been constructed and the canal is starting. Earlier, a canal has come here connecting Ghaghra river with Saryu, where it will now move forward and connect 9 districts like Bahraich, Shravasti, Gonda, Balrampur, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj and Gorakhpur. The ruling BJP is expected to woo farmers in the Awadh region with the inauguration of the project just before the assembly elections.
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Irrigation project cost Rs 9802 crore
Under the Saryu Canal Irrigation Project, 40 lakh farmers of Devipatan Mandal of Uttar Pradesh as well as the district of Basti Mandal will get benefit. For this project, their water has been brought into canals by connecting five rivers. The cost of this largest and longest canal irrigation project of independent India is Rs 9802 crore.
Scheme expanded in 9 districts
Giving information about the completion and inauguration program of Saryu Canal Project, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that this scheme was made in the year 1972, but the work on it started in 1978. Initially, this scheme was expanded only in two-three districts of Devipatan Mandal but in the year 1982 it was expanded and it was extended to 9 districts. He said that in 40 years from 1978 to 2017, only 52 per cent work had been done on this entire scheme. The remaining 48 per cent of the work has been done between 2017 and 2021.
Length of Saryu Canal Project 6623 kms
He said that the length of the Saryu canal project spread over 9 districts is 6623 kms. Under this, this entire canal system has been prepared connecting five rivers Ghaghra to Saryu, Saryu to Rapti, Rapti to Bardganga, Barhganga to Rohini river. The Chief Minister said that this project, besides being a great example of River Linking Campaign, would benefit 30 lakh farmers cultivating an area of 14.5 lakh hectares in nine districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh.